The news that comes out of Ciudad Juarez is usually filled with stories about violence and drugs. After all, this Mexican city bordering Texas was the most violent for three years during a particularly bloody period in the country’s ongoing drug war. So when the city is in the news for a completely different, and very awesome reason, it simply brightens my mood.
“El Profe”, as he is referred to by a local Juarez reporter throughout the entirety of the interview above, is a Juarez teacher who’s been collecting NFL memorabilia for more than 18 years now. Helmets, more than 350 jerseys, lunchboxes, cups, scarves, toys – you name it, el Profe has it.
“I began with the dream of having the helmets of all the NFL teams, but as you can see I went way overboard,” he said.
El Profe might be a unique character, but he’s obviously not the only hardcore Latino NFL fan. According to a 2012 ESPN poll, the NFL has around 20 million Hispanic fans in the United States, which is simply insane, given that the Hispanic population in the country was estimated at around 50 million in the 2010 census.
So if ESPN is right (and I’m not doubting them), one in every two Latinos are futbol Americano fans. And that’s not even counting fans from Latinoamérica, who as ‘el Profe’ evidences, are really into the sport.